Bang!
A rope of starlight lashed out from the Star River, stretching across ten thousand miles to seize the figure swimming within it and smash him straight into the hall!
The commander of Great Qi Empire's Rain Cutter Army was thrown just like that into the council hall of the Military Affairs Hall.
Cao Jie sat upon the White Tiger throne, its killing intent razor-sharp. His ever-sorrowful face bore a rare coldness, like morning frost silently gathering.
"Commander Tian!" From his high seat, he cast down a condescending gaze. "Before your last period of secluded cultivation, we seriously discussed the Rain Cutter Army's winter maneuvers, discussed cultivation at the pinnacle... Never did I imagine that we would meet again before winter arrived—much less in such a setting, in such a manner."
"How could all things go as one wishes? Just as I never expected the Earl of Shuofang to hate me so deeply that he would personally block my path." Tian Anping climbed to his feet. His hands remained bound by starlight as he glanced around. "Commander Cao, do you intend neither to unbind me nor offer me a seat?"
"What do you think?" Cao Jie watched him.
"Tian has not, to my knowledge, done anything that violated the rules." Though Tian Anping phrased it as a question, his tone remained utterly calm. "Why does Your Lordship treat me as a prisoner?"
"Are there only rules in this world, with nothing else to speak of?" Cao Jie asked.
"There was nothing in this world to begin with. It is because I am loyal to His Majesty and loyal to Qi State that I see these rules, that I am willing to care about them."
Cao Jie's gaze sharpened. "You killed the Earl of Shuofang."
Tian Anping stood in the middle